Council to upgrade Mount Barker’s wastewater treatment facility

Mount Barker District Council is upgrading SA’s largest Council operated wastewater treatment facility over the next 2-3 years at an estimated cost of $9-9.5m.

Mayor Ann Ferguson said the city’s wastewater treatment facility, located in Mount Barker, has aging infrastructure and has gone through many upgrades including the establishment of Laratinga Wetland in the 1990s. This next upgrade is necessary to see the facility adequately treat the increasing volume of wastewater and to annually provide in excess of 1,000 million litres (1 gigalitre) of recycled water to surrounding business, local parks and gardens.

Council’s wastewater treatment facility currently services the townships of Mount Barker, Littlehampton, Nairne and Brukunga.

“As demand for wastewater services continues to grow, our treatment facility is nearing capacity and is no longer efficient. This upgrade will address the community’s concern for the local environment by producing better-quality recycled water” adds Mayor Ferguson.

Mayor Ferguson explained that a number of upgrade options were considered by Council and a staged approach is the most cost effective, starting immediately with improvements to processes that will increase capacity and meet demand in areas of microfiltration, treatment, regulation and seasonal control of water to Laratinga Wetland.

“The upgrades will improve the quality of Council’s recycled water from our treatment facility, which will understandably have a positive impact on our local environment as well as supporting future productive re-use opportunities for the water thereby growing our economy” said Mayor Ferguson.

Mayor Ann Ferguson said “Council knows how important Laratinga Wetland is to our community and is committed to maintaining this vital asset into the future”.

“At the moment our wastewater treatment facility is producing more recycled water than the wetland requires, so it is essential we take steps to minimise impacts and continue to improve and enhance the experience for locals and visitors” adds Mayor Ferguson.